“There’s a path to climb down I think.” Caroline stood at the edge of the cliff.

“They valley in front of us is mostly a grassy plain. There’s a gorge at the far side, which could block our way east, but it seems we can get around them at both ends.” I sat down on the edge of the cliff next to Caroline.

“Where will we go?” Milly sat down on her backpack.

“If I remember correctly there’s no path north from this valley. We have options to go to the east. Tilly, can you give me my maps?” I got to my feet again, groaning.

“Shouldn’t we hurry?” Alenae looked at me with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry. We’re going to run soon enough. You don’t want to be caught between a cliff like this one and a bunch of angry knights, do you?” I grinned slightly.

She nodded.

“Here are your maps.” Tilly handed me the folder with maps.

“There are no riders as far as I can see.” Loraline had walked next to Caroline.

“Well. The gorge is on the map and marked as impassable. There is a small foot path east, probably not passable for riders. We have to get around the gorge though.” I looked at the map and back at the terrain in front of me.

“It looks faster to get around it to the south.” Loraline stepped back and came over to me.

“We’re going around north.” I looked at my map again.

“Why?” Milly looked at me with a slight frown.

“Multiple reasons. I want to give them the impression we want to go north badly. There’s a small but easy to travel path north a few days ahead and I want to leave the impression we went that way, while actually heading east. Another point is that the knights will probably show up from the west. In the case they see us, which is unfortunately rather probable, it sounds nice if they are on the other side of the gorge. They might even split up at that point. While I want to avoid a fight, fewer opponents means better chances. In this rather open valley they can use their numbers to their advantage. The only chance to bottleneck them is the path out of the valley. We can retreat on the scree ramps, but they can climb up as well. They would be able to do that in front and behind of us as they’re much faster down there on their horses.” I got to my feet again.

“I see.” She nodded.

“There’s much uncertainty on how much the abbot told them about this exit. We have to assume they know about this place and leave before they block the way out. They probably leave a small detachment to block they way out through the abbey, which is good, as they’re out of our hair. I think they will sent a detachment here anyway, just to make sure we left. A few people at a distance could as well be some smugglers. And when they can come from the north, there might be way for us to leave in that direction as well. With some luck at least a few of them will get delayed enough for us to get out of here. Now let’s get going. I think we’re going to need about two days to reach our way out of this valley.” I put on my backpack with a groan.

“What about your ... clothes?” Milly frowned at me.

“At moment I’m going to ruin anything I wear, there’s no water to wash. We need the water for drinking. With these burns it would be hell to wear something while constantly on the move as wll. The backpack is bad enough.” I refrained myself from shrugging.

“As soon as we can clean you up, I’m going scrub you!” She put on her backpack with a frown.

“As long as my skin stays where it is.” I chuckled.

We secured ourselves with ropes. Caroline took the point and we took Alenae in the middle, as she was probably the worst climber. The others had had enough time and opportunity to be decent climbers by now. At the steeper passages we let our gear down with ropes. While moving along ledges we usually carried them on our backs as usual.

Milly and I were standing on a ledge about halfway down the cliff.

“How is your slave mark doing?” Milly looked at me as we waited for Alena to climb down to ledge.

“There were no jolts from the marks the last hour.” I nodded.

“We would have kept our mana down anyway, since it would be a mess mid-climb.” She shrugged.

Suddenly the lines pulled taut! As I was next in the line I stood in a way to have solid footing. Then a loud scream came up from below. Milly support me to mitigate the initial pull on the rope.

“Alenae!” Caroline was yelling from down below.

“Aaahhh!” At least she was still alive.

“Lilly! Pull!” Caroline had a better view on the situation down there so she took charge.

I started to pull, while Milly was securing me.

“Stop!” Caroline yelled . I stopped pulling.

“Let her down! Carefully!” Caroline yelled.

The pull on the rope went away a few moments later.

“Lilly. You’re next.” Caroline yelled after a few minutes.

“I hope she wasn’t injured seriously.” Milly braced herself.

Alenae had a few bruises and scratches, but was well enough to continue.

We reached the plains below after another hour of climbing.

“She called it a path!” Alenae mumbled look back at the sheer cliff above us.

After short break for lunch we headed north.

“I can carry your backpack, at least for a while.” Alena walked next to me, huffing and puffing.

“I’m good, spare your breath, you’re going to need it.” My shoulders hurt like hell.

“As you wish, but my offer stands.” She looked at me earnestly.

“You can take my place setting up camp this evening.” I tried a smile.

She nodded.

I had reduce our speed a bit. As most of us had some bruises from the fights this morning it was a boon for the rest of us as well. As long as our pursuers were nowhere to see, it was okay. We shouldn’t dawdle, but there was no need to exhaust everyone without reason. Alenae would be totally exhausted tonight, so I decided to let her sleep through tonight. She was going to need all rest she could get through the next day, which I expected to be much worse for her. We would have to walk all day and I expected some of the knight to show up and we probably had notch up the pace to get them off our tails.

As it was clear for an observer that there was no easy way out to the north we turned east and reached the northern end of the gorge a while before dawn.

We set up camp without a fire in a shallow hollow. Alenae stood to her word and helped with the camp, even if it was obvious she was pushing herself. I had put down my backpack and checked my sore shoulders. I hoped they would get a bit better over the night. My hair under the helmet had clotted together at some points.

“I’m cutting these out.” Milly waived with her scissors.

I simply nodded. This was no fight I was going to win. Fortunately my belt with the light stone had survived the flames well enough. They were a bit scorched, but still usable. The gem itself was in perfect condition.

After dinner we sorted out the watches. I put Alenae in the last one with me and told the middle watch to wake me up a bit earlier.

In the night the mark heals seemed to take over. So no rest for the wicked. Milly’s regeneration over the day hadn’t yet kicked in so she had a least the days to recover a bit. My burns didn’t heal much while I slept, but while on the watch I could feel my skin recovering slightly. My shoulders recuperated a bit as well, but they were much worse of course.

I didn’t think that I was longing for longer rest after lugging around all the winter. It wasn’t a sound recovery time, because of the plague and the marks, but it was enough to feel eager to continue our journey.

I woke up Alenae as the rest started to stir. She said nothing, and simply sat down by my side, focusing on the surrounding area.

After a quick breakfast we headed back south. The terrain was good but after while we had to turn back to the gorge. The rim of the gorge was slightly elevated and we were visible towards the west. The lower terrain was too inhibiting to make good progress. It was bad terrain for horses even near the chasm for now.

The path was narrow and scattered with rocks, but it was well enough for hiking. My burning skin continued to heal safe for the shoulders thus the others decided to lighten my load. I let Alenae carry my backpack once in a while as well. It would bite her in the back later on, but I didn’t want her to feel useless. It was a while after dinner when Tilly noticed riders following the valley in northern direction to the west. Soon about twenty of them started to head our way, the rest headed north towards the exit of the cave.

“Why don’t we hide?” Loraline asked after a while.

“We don’t want to give them time to join up again, after they split up so nicely.” I looked over my shoulder with a grin.

“When do we reach the path you mentioned earlier?” Milly piped up.

“We should reach it today, as long as the terrain doesn’t get worse.” I surveyed the terrain ahead.

“As long as we can continue up here we’re good. In the case they have missile weapons we’re screwed.” Loraline looked down at the rocky terrain to our left.

“As soon as they get into range, we have to go down there. It’s still faster than scaling the scree ramp, but it would set us back considerably.” I tried to keep my breathing even.

A few hours later the riders approached the gorge.

“They have crossbows!” Loraline frowned as a few riders pulled the weapons from a saddle bag.

“Then let’s take cover.” I turned left into the rocky depression.

As the first bolts crossed the gorge we were out of sight with keeping or head low. A few minutes later the sound of a horn rolled across the valley.

“Let’s stay close to the ridge, to sneak a peek once in a while.” I looked back at the other.

After a few minutes I set down my backpack.

“Short break.” I headed up to the top of the ridge.

The knights had split up already. Half of them went north and the others went south. I turned back to the others after a few moments.

“They split up as expected. It’s good they’re no locals.” I drunk a swig of water.

“Will we make it?” Alenae looked me in the eyes.

“All will depend on the terrain ahead. We’re turning towards the scree ramp now, and as soon as we see them on this side of the gorge we’re going up the scree. They will still be dangerous, but will have to leave the horses behind, and perhaps one or two them to keep an eye on them.” I looked everyone in the eyes.

“As soon as we reach the upper parts of the scree ramp we should be safe from their crossbows.” Loraline nodded.

“This was the last break for a while. Let’s go!” I put on my backpack.

I led the party gradually towards the base of the scree ramp over the next hour. Then we followed the base of scree ramp south. After two more hours, our progress was meager as we had to watch every step, the ground finally changed to flat grassland. I notched up speed to a quick pace.

“What about lunch?” Milly came alongside.

“Lunch?” I looked at her with wide eyes.

“It’s already quit a bit after noon.” She frowned a bit.

“No lunch today, at least as usual. We can eat as we walk.” I grinned and winked at her.

It was well in the afternoon when I saw some movement ahead.

“Someone is aproaching. It’s time to climb.” I turned to the scree ramp.

“Are you sure it’s the knights?” Loraline looked ahead.

“I don’t care. We want to be out of the range of the crossbows by the time they arrive. It’ll be slower but its better to continue our way up there.” I kept my eyes on the terrain in front of me.

As climbing straight up would be more difficult, so we climbed up at an angle.

“It’s the knights.” Tilly pointed forward after a while.

“This is going to be too close.” I squinted ahead.

We were about a hundred meters from level ground. The riders were approaching too quickly.

“We turn.” I turned to climb at an angle back into direction we came from.

Alenae was close to collapsing. The others had gone to their limits today as well. My shoulders burned, but there was no point in complaining. Maybe we could get some rest later. We started to pass an area sprinkled with a few larger boulders.

I refrained to go faster though, there was no point in collapsing before we had at least reached the upper third of the ramp. At about two hundred meters with a similar elevation the crossbow bolts shouldn’t be an issue anymore. I sneaked a peek over my shoulder. The riders approached quickly. They were riding in full gallop now.

Finally they stopped below us and were pulling out their crossbows. There was a cluster of larger boulders ahead. We would be still in range.

“Keep your calm, when you slip you’re going down. We’re going for the boulders ahead.” I focused on my footing.

Then the first bolt whirred by. The first shots all went wide, but we won’t be out of range for a while.

Then I heard a yelp behind me. Alenae, who was third in the line, had dropped to the ground!

“Shit!” I dropped my backpack where I stood and headed back.

Loraline looked at me breathing heavily.

“Continue!” I glared at her.

She nodded and I passed her. Caroline hat stopped by Alena.

“I take care of here. Don’t stop.” I yelled.

Caroline continued reluctantly. Milly nudged her forward as she approached.

“Leave me here! I can’t walk anymore!” Alenae tried to raise her hands but failed.

Tilly passed while I got down in a crouch in front of her. A crossbow bolt impacted a few meters below us.

“Aaahh!” Aleane cried out in panic.

I swept her up in a princess carry and turned to continue towards the rocks again. She wasn’t heavy. Under normal conditions I would have been able to carry her without much of a problem. My legs were aching from a day walking and the way up the scree though. It was better than sand, but with every step the loose rubble gave way a bit.

She was heavier than my backpack though. It was about thirty meters to next boulder. The others had passed the first one and headed for ones a few meters away. Milly and Caroline had picked up my backpack together, while Loraline made effort to reach a boulder a bit above the others. A few steps before she reached her cover crossbow bolt hit her. She staggered a bit, but got back her balance a few moments later. Milly and Caroline reached their cover and let themselves fall behind a boulder. Tilly followed them closely. They huddled together, but were out of direct danger.

Then a searing paing jolted through my left thigh. I went down to my knees, only about four meters away from the cover. A loud cheer came up from down below.

Gritting my teeth I pushed myself up with my uninjured leg. I got back to my feet after a few moments. First I tried to limp, but the searing pain in my tight made my vision blur. Pushing back the pain I started to run. The pain was killing me, time was of essence. I had clamped down my arms around Alenae. Each time my injured leg touched the ground I screamed at the top of my lungs. I feel down behind the my the boulder. Then everything went black.

When I came to me, Loraline crouched in front of me. Alenae sat with the back to the boulder and had pulled her knees to the chest. Her arms were wrapped around her legs.

“AahhhhH!” I tried to suppress another scream.

“Try not to move. I removed the bolt while you were out. I just put a bandage on the wound.” She gave me a swig of water.

“How long?” I looked at sky, which was still blue.

“Not that long. They stopped shooting, but are waiting for anything that moves. They seemed to have gotten a grasp for the distance, aiming better than the first few shots.” She frowned.

“Is she awake?” Milly called out.

“Yes. She just regained consciousness.” Loraline called back.

“We have to wait for the night and leave.” I looked her in the eyes.

“We don’t have much of a choice, do we?” She gave me a sad smile.

“It shouldn’t be that far anymore.” I tried to give her an encouraging smile.

“I’m so sorry.” Aleane looked at me with teary eyes.

“Shush. It wasn’t you who fired the bolt.” I gave stern look.

She didn’t say anything.

It was still a few hours of daylight.

“Try to keep an eye on what they’re doing, but be careful” I looked at Loraline.

She nodded.

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in my left thigh. My shoulders and my skin were still regenerating, while my leg didn’t improve much, but resting helped a bit.